


The Good Fight

by thatanonwiththeoc



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, Carmen Keeps The Family She Made For Herself, Epilogue-Style, Fix-It, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, i wanted a different ending so i did it myself, they deserve to be a family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28980924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatanonwiththeoc/pseuds/thatanonwiththeoc
Summary: Carmen makes a choice to chase what she was looking for ever since leaving VILE Island, but it comes with the cost of having to say goodbye to the friends she's already made along the way.However, a certain someone's not ready to let go of her just yet.
Relationships: Ivy & Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep, Ivy & Zack (Carmen Sandiego), Player & Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Comments: 24
Kudos: 72





	The Good Fight

**Author's Note:**

> i'll be back to writing ml after this. i just needed to write something to heal myself after finishing Carmen Sandiego. you can thank my friend for that <3

_“Keep fighting the good fight. Love you both so much. -Carmen”_

The paper in her hands wrinkled under the sudden grip of her fingers, rustling. Rustling, rustling, rustling and it was too loud when it was speaking out in the silent room. But Ivy just couldn’t believe it.

“No.” she whispered.

No.

No, no, no, no, _no._

Ivy choked on her own breath, a hand coming up to her mouth as the note fell to the floor, forgotten. The burning in her eyes didn’t feel anywhere as painful as the sudden longing in her chest.

Zack stepped closer, concern clear all over his face. “…Ivy?”

She hadn’t even noticed she was crying until she heard a wracked sob escape her. Zack wrapped his arms around Ivy, pulling her into a hug. But it was missing _her._

Why did she leave, after she’d come back to them after so long? Was she not good enough? Was there something she could’ve done that would’ve made her want to stay? Did they do something that made her want to _leave?_ God, it felt like she was five all over again, on the front porch of their home watching the last of their family leave to who knows where.

So, she cried and _cried_ into his chest as the sobs wracked her body. She cried until her throat ached, until her eyes were rubbed raw from wiping away the tears that wouldn’t stop coming. Where did she go?

She could hear Zack’s voice, but it sounded worlds away. But she could tell that he was holding back tears. At least, for now. “Player… where’d Carmen go?”

* * *

The last time she was here, Carmen really, _really_ hoped that she’d at least get to find that connection to her past. But now that she’d found it, it wasn’t really what she’d expected.

She sighed, leaning back on the park bench as an afternoon breeze blew by. Really, what was she expecting? There wasn’t any magical moment where they looked at each other and just knew; no feeling of the world standing still. They had a conversation, talked about a man that she barely remembered, and then… that was it. After promising to see each other again, they parted ways.

It wasn’t as if her mother wasn’t a nice person. Quite the opposite, actually. She was every bit the woman she’d expected her father to fall in love with. She was warm, loving, and strangely enough, the exact kind of woman a criminal-on-the-run would leave behind his entire life to settle down with. Dad sure did score a sweet one.

Carmen took out the dolls, running her thumb over the burn on its side. Shadowsan said she earned the opportunity to have the life she deserved. She knew that much was at least true.

But, what kind of life did she deserve if it wasn’t the one she was made to lead? Or, maybe even the one she doesn’t want to lead?

“Carm!”

A look to her left, standing on her legs, and a brief moment to brace herself was all she could register before she was taken into a massive bear hug. Carmen gasped. “Ivy?”

Ivy shuddered, and when she realised that the girl hugging her was crying, she hugged her back. “Ivy, what are you doing here?”

Ivy froze, letting her go in an instant. She wiped her face with her arm and sniffed. “S-Sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Force of habit, I guess. I… _we…_ ” Ivy gestured to her and Zack, who was right behind her. There were tears in his eyes, but she’d known them both long enough to know when they were trying to be strong when it was oh so obvious that they were hurting, “we just… wanted to see you again. You’re seeing your mother again, right? Player told us.”

Carmen’s gaze fell to her sneakers. “Er, yeah.”

Ivy audibly swallowed. “Is she… nice?”

“Yeah, she’s very sweet.”

"Cool."

A heavy silence washed over them. Even Zack, who never seemed to be able to go a minute without cracking a joke or two hadn’t even said a word yet. It felt awkward, a thick tension in the air that it would even make Shadowsan uncomfortable. Carmen’s gaze shifted from the pavement to the cars on the road, then to the grass opposite it. She was just about to say something to break the silence when Ivy beat her to it.

“I can be better.”

Finally, Carmen looked up to the girl speaking to her, who had her head hung low. “What?”

Ivy sniffed, voice fragile. “I can be better, if you want me to.”

“Ivy, what are you talking about?”

Ivy sobbed. “Carm, I want you to stay!” Carmen took a step back from the burst, and Ivy started crying again at full force, her voice wracked with sobs and emotion that was now bubbling up to the surface. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be asking you this. You… you deserve this more than any one of us. B-but the other day when you came back to us, was… was the first time that I realized that I wouldn’t know what to _do_ with myself if I ever had you out of my life for real. Do you know how darn messed up that is?! You came back to us after months. _Months,_ Carm. And then all of a sudden you’re gone again and I just—”

When Ivy stopped herself, Carmen stepped forward. “Ivy…”

Zack put a hand on Ivy’s back as her gaze fell to her hands, which were moist with tears. “I guess… I guess I just thought that after all that time we spent together, after what we’d been through together, all of us could be like… like… like a…” Ivy hid her face in her hands.

The sobs coming out of her stopped her before she could say it, but the unsaid word was heard by all of them.

And at that moment, when Carmen looked at her, _really_ looked at her, she realized something.

Carmen wasn’t looking at Ivy, that hardened, Boston-bred and gifted engineer that she’d known. This was Olivia, a kid that had no other family than the little brother she was left to care for.

“Oh my god. Ivy…” Carmen stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. She heard her gasp from the sudden embrace, but Carmen was shedding tears in her hair. “I’m so, _so_ sorry.” It wasn’t enough, nothing could ever be enough. Not when she was hurting what was part of what made her world so precious. Her, Zack, Player, Shadowsan, Jules, even Gray.

This new world that she’d found. The one she’d made for herself after she’d left that island she thought was home was the one she’d wanted to see all along. _This_ was her new home. This was what she’d wanted. Maybe she didn’t deserve it, but neither did any of them. They never could, anyway. Who ever could deserve what they had now?

How could she think of leaving it behind?

What they had together was… beautiful.

“I’m sorry.” Carmen whispered, planting a kiss to her bright ginger hair. “I’m not going anywhere. I swear it to you.”

At that, Ivy sobbed once more as she wrapped her arms around her lean figure once again. Except this time, Carmen could feel her smile against the sobs against her shoulder as they hugged. “Thanks.” she whispered. “Thanks so much. I don’t ever think I could pay you back.”

Carmen laughed, weak but true. She looked at Zack, who had an uncharacteristically soft smile on his face. She nudged her head in invitation, and he took it graciously. He wrapped his arms around both of them, squishing Ivy in the middle, making her groan and punch him in the arm.

A week later, Shadowsan returned to HQ after leaving his home in Japan and in turn, leaving the life he’d planned with Hideo. According to him, they quickly learned that they’d grown too different from each other. They were still on good terms, but he confessed that he felt more at home with them than he ever had back in Japan or with VILE. He claimed they were still going to keep in touch, though, much to Carmen’s relief. She wouldn’t know if her conscience could handle separating those two.

Two weeks later, Chief told Carmen that Gray was, in fact, alive and in good shape. Needless to say, that was enough to keep Carmen sane after having nothing to do for almost a month.

Her whole life was changing faster than she could ever have imagined it. It was like she was leaving VILE Island all over again. But this time, she knew she had people in her corner helping her. And with them by her side, she knew that everything was going to be alright.

* * *

_Two years later…_

Carmen had to admit, the ACME uniform was a good look on Jules.

She saluted her and Chase. It was really good to see a few familiar faces. If she was being completely honest, she was kind of proud of Chase for becoming the man he was now.

Player chimed in from her earpiece. “Good job, Red. About time you got Paper Star all folded and tied up.”

She leaped across the rooftops towards rendezvous. “What can I say? I was top of Shadowsan’s class. _Someone_ had to fold her a new one.”

Wrangling the escaped VILE operatives on the side was a breath of fresh air. _Nostalgia_ was a word that could be used to describe it, but honestly, it was sort of bittersweet too. Like some kind of conclusion to that chapter of her life. That same chapter that she’d been living for the past _twenty-two_ years of her life.

With VILE out of the way, she picked up a job as a tour guide at a local museum. Not as lucrative as stealing from an international league of supervillains, but it was enough to get by. At least Zack and Ivy were enjoying their work at the mechanic’s. Shadowsan on the other hand, taught self-defense. Not in a dojo, but as an instructor. He didn’t want to dishonor his family name by even daring to teach that way. Not again, after all he’d done. She, at the very least, understood.

She leaped into the van, and she looked up at the two people waiting for her.

Zack whooped, pumping his fist as he drove through the midnight streets and puddles, splashing the pavement. “Clean as ever, Carm!”

She smirked. “What, thought I’d get rusty?”

Ivy smiled back at her. “What, you? Never.”

Zack laughed, and then perked up. “Ooh! Carm, can we get Chinese on the way home? There’s this place I’ve been keeping my eye on all week! It’s been tauntin’ me, lookin’ all delicious and such…” When Ivy punched him in the arm, he recoiled. “Ow! I’m drivin’ over here!”

“Keep your eyes on the road, doofus.” she said, causing Zack to grumble.

Carmen smiled. “Sure, but don’t go _too_ crazy. Madre’s coming over tomorrow and we’re planning on eating out.” She straightened out her hat. “Though, I’m not sure yet where to take her… Player?”

“Already on it, Red.”

“I can always count on you.”

Player laughed. “Whatever would you do without me?”

“Not escape VILE, that’s for sure. Oh yeah, Zack? Ivy?”

They both answered at the same time. “Yeah, boss?”

“Please behave in front of my mom.”

Zack scoffed. “Of course! You can count on us. I’ll be more behaved than Player, that’s for sure.”

Player spoke up from the van’s comms. “I’m still here, guys.”

The van swerved. “Oh, P-Player! Erm, fancy seeing you here.”

Ivy smirked, resting her chin on her fist. “Real smooth, Zack-Attack.”

‘Zack-Attack’ scowled. “Hey. I thought we agreed to never use that name. Ever. Again. I will crash this car, right now.”

Carmen finally stood up and swiftly put a gloved hand on both their shoulders. “-As much as I _love_ the nickname, let’s not crash on our first mission in months. Kay, guys?”

When they grumbled their agreements (more Zack than Ivy), she breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

Things definitely weren’t perfect. A lot of them stayed at work a little longer than they’d plan to, they sometimes had fights, and even things between her mother and Shadowsan were tense at times. There were a few patches that still needed a bit of mending, some more than others, and maybe they wouldn’t be mended at all.

But, she realized that maybe that was okay. This was what she wanted after all, just as long as she had them by her side. Whether she was settling down for the first time or butting heads with familiar faces, as long as she wasn’t alone, she’d be okay. _They’d_ be okay. Because no matter what, she knew what she had.

She had a team on her side. A _family._

This was their good fight. The fight to keep everything they’d fought for so far, and they’d keep fighting as long as they knew they could breathe.

It was the good fight they’d been waiting for.

And it was _theirs._

**Author's Note:**

> i don't usually write for this show, i'm usually miraculous trash lmao but if you wanna check out my tumblr it's
> 
> tumblr: [thatanonwiththeoc](https://thatanonwiththeoc.tumblr.com/)


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